Heartstrings: Poems
by TacomaSquall
Summary: A series of stand-alone poems. These poems form part of a larger story with Chances, Farewells, and Vincent Unleashed
1. A Mothers Love

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part One:

A Mother's Love

Alone, I spend my life  
In training, in preparation  
To smite ShinRa's enemies.

My father thinks less of me  
Than the specimens in the   
Glass petri dishes before him.

All I am is a project -  
Not a man, a creation,  
Bred only to destroy.

I hunger to be "normal",  
To have a family support me,  
But such is not my lot.

He says I have no mother,  
As if I sprang into being -  
An expression of pure science.

But I know the truth,  
I know my mother -  
Jenova.

I will find her,  
I will reunite with her,  
I will make her proud

Because, all I really desire  
Is what you take for granted,  
I want my mother's love.


	2. Traitors Vow

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Two:

Traitor's Vow

"A band of terrorists,"  
They told me, when they asked  
Me to become a mole.

"A dangerous threat  
To all Midgar's citizens,"  
They claimed, so I joined you.

"We can make Neo-Midgar  
If only you do this small task,"  
So I gave up my soul.

Calling you terrorists  
Is like calling a gust of wind  
A tornado or a hurricane.

You fight for the Planet,  
In my misguided folly -  
I gave the Keystone away.

Now, I have seen the evil  
You are standing against -  
I find it abhorrent.

Sephiroth killed Aeris,  
She who was the best of us,  
Unstopped, he'll destroy all.

I shall stand beside you,  
If ShinRa tries to stop us,  
Then they are my enemies.

Never again a betrayer,  
Forever standing at your side -  
Your ally, companion and friend.


	3. A Daughters Cry

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Three:

A Daughter's Cry

When are you coming home?  
Aunt Elmyra says you  
Are fighting to save us all -  
Leaving me in safety.

I look at other girls my age,  
And they have their fathers,  
Their dads don't have a gun  
Where there should be an arm.

Their fathers look similar,  
So different from you and I,  
A father who is as dark as night,  
A daughter who is as fair as day.

Sure, I get to have fun,  
At Tifa's, I played bartender,  
I got to watch what happened  
When ShinRa Tower was blasted.

I would trade all the freedom,  
If only I could have you beside me,  
If only we looked alike,  
If only you didn't leave.

Why did you have to be my father?  
Who is the other person?  
I vaguely remember him,  
When I was a little girl.

I miss you, Daddy.  
Come back to me.  
Soon I will be older,  
And you won't know me at all...


	4. Stolen

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Four:

Stolen

I was the one who was a thief,  
I joined you to take your materia.  
Why is it that I cannot leave you -  
Abandoning a war not my own?

Life, for me, was one huge adventure,  
Exciting and filled with fun -  
But since I joined you, I have seen darkness,  
Known despair, and tasted defeat.

I have watched a wonderful man  
Crushed by others' manipulations -  
Driven to the verges of sanity -  
Doubting memory and identity.

Vincent, your silences call to me,  
Like a moth is called by the open flame -  
I am desperate to know the tenor,  
The substance of your hidden thoughts.

When Aeris was murdered by Sephiroth,  
I watched, powerless, the blade descending,  
Piercing her body as she prayed  
For the salvation of the whole world.

She, of you all, accepted me,  
Welcomed me, forgave my ill-timed theft.  
She became like a big sister to me,  
Protecting me, freely giving her support.

Her death rocked my entire world,  
I had not understood how fragile  
Every one of us really is.  
My illusions have been shattered.

I stand beside you, my friends,  
Not just to protect my homeland,  
But something I never acknowledged  
Was stolen from me, never to be restored.

My innocence.


	5. Vows

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Six:

Vows (The Marriage of Tifa and Cloud)

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Cloud:

I affirm the passion I feel  
For the woman at my side.  
She is my partner,  
My companion,  
My bride.

As long as these Mako-charged eyes  
Shall glow incandescent -  
I swear to love and cherish,  
To respect and support,  
To protect at need.

As mighty as the breath of  
Bahamut's progeny,  
My love shall be constant,  
Never turning aside,  
Never ending.

As deep as the Lifestream,  
My love shall sustain you,  
The one who saved me,  
The one who found me -  
The one who believed.

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Tifa:

My knight in SOLDIER's costume,  
I swear to stand by you  
Every task,  
Every endeavor,  
Every dream.

As hot as the fire of Ifrit,  
My love for you burns -  
Warming my life,  
Bringing light to it -  
Hope from despair.

As enduring as Nibel Mountain,  
I shall always be there,  
Loving and respecting,  
Cherishing and supporting,  
'Til end of time.

Against even mighty Jenova and  
Her blighted son, Sephiroth  
I would be your shield-mate,  
I would protect you,  
My life is yours.

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Both:

As the Phoenix rises from the ashes,  
The world has been reborn.  
Through a mighty conflagration,  
We have continued on -  
We have endured.

Now, our troth plighted,  
Our separate lives end,  
And, in that end, a new life has begun  
Our Phoenix rises  
In hope and love.


	6. Vincents Lament

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Seven:

Vincent's Lament

Darkness within darkness,  
I lay in my bed -  
Longing for the coffin,  
Praying for oblivion.

I was unaware 'til you roused me,  
Imprisoned with my demons.  
My world was my guilt,  
My revulsion and self-despite.

I know love's allure, my friend,  
But it is chimerical,  
Dying like an ember -  
All too mortal.

Once I was like you,  
I felt I had the world at my feet.  
Lucresia was beside me,  
Our stars were on the rise.

However, I didn't know  
Her dedication to her career  
Would compromise our future,  
Would create a monster.

Even then, I could have saved her  
Had I been understanding.  
Could have averted disaster  
If I just walked away.

My rage led to confrontation  
With the madman who forced her.  
My anger pushed his unhinged mind  
Over sanity's precipice.

With strength unexpected,  
He laid me out quickly.  
I drew the weapon  
My rank permitted me to bear.

He grabbed my hand,  
Wrestling for my pistol.  
Then, a door opened -  
There was a single report.

My pistol, discharged  
By our struggle,  
Vomited a single bullet  
Into my love's chest.

Numb, I stood heedless  
As others came for me.  
I was responsible.  
I brought her death.

The madman saved the unborn child  
That he had quickened in her.  
He then changed me  
Into the monster you see now.

I was sentenced to the coffin,  
To be locked with my sorrows -  
Knowing all he cared for  
Was the fruit of her womb.

You demanded, when I awakened,  
That I help save the planet  
From the madman's progeny -  
From my beloved's child.

How things could have been -  
If I had done differently,  
Perhaps that dark peril  
Would never have come.

Now is the time for joy  
You insist to me.  
But happiness cannot fill  
The abyss in my heart.

Physically, you freed me,  
But you cannot rescue me  
From the suffering I know now,  
The coffin of my soul.


	7. Unrequited

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Eight:

Unrequited...

I am in love  
With someone  
Who doesn't have  
An inkling of how I feel.

All you can see  
Is the love  
That you have lost -  
Chaining yourself to the past.

I could give you  
So much more  
If you'd let me,  
If you'd just see that I'm here.

But you do not.  
I will not,  
Put myself before  
What you want, need so badly.

So, I stand here,  
Loving you -  
Being a fool.  
My love is unrequited.


	8. Twilight

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Heartstrings

by TacomaSquall

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Part Nine:

Twilight

Rebirth now delayed  
By a group of brave heroes -  
Not aware of truth 

I fell once before,  
And defeat was more bitter.  
I will recover. 

My lord is coming,  
And those fools have no idea,  
The threat is soon here. 

They pulled down ShinRa,  
Masters of technology -  
Key to their defense. 

Now, they're powerless,  
Materia will not help them.  
They have brought their doom. 

My twilight is here,  
Ironic that they who beat me,  
Are now into theirs.


End file.
